


Cellophane Chocolate, Strings of Hearts, and Inconvenient Functions

by Arnediad



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU, M/M, More of Seph thinking, Somewhat melancholy but also slightly sweet, Teen Rating for swearing, Weird references to chocolate, valentine's day fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:08:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22726675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arnediad/pseuds/Arnediad
Summary: Sephiroth reflects on the values of Valentine's day, friendship, and love.
Relationships: Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12





	Cellophane Chocolate, Strings of Hearts, and Inconvenient Functions

Relationships were complicated.

Watching as Genesis strung up a row of hearts with a somewhat resigned expression, Sephiroth closed his eyes and let the breeze filtering in from the balcony dance across his visage. It brought with it the smell of the city...the smog...the far-away bustle of metropolitan traffic. Atop HQ, such noises were distant...but not negligible; and with mako-enhanced hearing, they were acknowledgeable to a great degree. There was a cup of coffee before him, but he didn’t touch it, preferring instead to soak in the meager sunlight available from the height they had situated themselves at; just away from Administration...a little to the left of Financing. The General was outside, but his redheaded companion was visible through the double doors leading inwards; the silver-haired FIRST allowed himself the occasional glance...because knowing he was there was somehow grounding.

Valentine’s day was more complicated.

In the past, he might have rushed about hysterically to gather gifts for his partner, but he knew better at this point. Genesis didn’t enjoy pomp and circumstance; it was less about the material and more about the emotional. Sephiroth was not _good_ at the emotional, but he still put some stock in it because it helped him understand those around him on a degree more than clinical. There were times when he felt nothing _but_ clinical...but his associates, those he could call his friends-such as Angeal-had taught him otherwise...surely but steadily. Even with his past, he still believed in camaraderie; he _wanted_ to believe in camaraderie because it was one of the few things he had been taught-through experience-mattered. His experiences with his men were everlasting; they were consistent and they had always delivered him something not necessarily positive, but reliable...trustworthy.

Romance and Valentine’s day seemed to be comorbid in their existence.

Some might say that romance was a pre-heraldic necessity to everything that the commercialized day entailed; but he would argue otherwise. Mostly because he was not-at his core-romantic. He was not poetic, like his partner; and there were times when he wondered what the redhead saw in him, but otherwise he had learned not to question too much...lest he lose it. He wanted to believe in what they were because it was safe...it was reassuring and it didn’t judge him for what he was or what he might become. With the demands that SOLDIER put on their men...there was very little time for dalliance, and when they had agreed to pursue their relationship, it was with the knowledge that it would be difficult to work with...sometimes overtly demanding, and very stressful...but it was still worth it. The effort was worth it when it came to the reward; which was a shared sense of understanding and trust.

Sephiroth had had very little reason to trust otherwise.

Blue eyes cut his way, and a freckled nose wrinkled as his second-in-command made a face that was both teasing and quietly affectionate before returning to his task. Suppressing a smile in return, Sephiroth refocused on the horizon and began to slowly and methodologically decompress from the day. He was given very little reason to trust anyone, because of his separation from the general populace. Most of his men...even Hewley...had people to go home to. Shinra’s Finest, in earlier days, often went home to an empty apartment not because of a lack of suitors, but because those who approached him with the prospect of romance were usually looking for something to gain. There were times when he considered it...because he was biological no matter what he told himself otherwise; and he did have desires...but the price was too high should things go wrong...the cost too great. He had duties...and he had responsibilities that did not allow him much personal time...that alone, to your average citizen, was a hindrance. More than that, Hojo had never put much of an emphasis on interaction...not past a certain degree, because he was-as the bespectacled scientist often told him-a machination at his core...an extension to an already-powerful machine.

_’Doesn’t it feel...dehumanizing?’_

Closing his eyes, the silver-haired First tilted his head, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips as he did so. Genesis had asked him the aforementioned...once. At the time, he’d dismissed it because he didn’t want to face it. But it was dehumanizing...to be nothing other than your purpose. And he didn’t like that it was comforting to exist within that standpoint; he didn’t like that he’d grown so accustomed to his role that he was no longer secure stepping out of it. Individuals like the redhead currently hanging hearts and grumbling under his breath had no trouble stopping for a casual conversation. Sephiroth did not know how to do casual outside of a pre-designated setting; like a press banquet or a company fundraiser. Even there...the avenues of conversation directed at him were predictable...they were what you would expect at such functions and so he had no need to expand...no need to challenge himself otherwise.

_’I don’t want you to feel like you need to be anything more than what you are’_

This, too, was complex.

Blinking, the General watched as Genesis hopped down from the ladder and tilted his chin, a pale hand lifting to scratch his head as he surveyed his work. It was complex because he had never been forced to evolve until he had people that he _wanted_ to evolve for. Not because he felt obligated to, but because a part of him genuinely wanted to provide what was needed. His prognosis as a child was never good; because you could only condition someone so much without dealing with severe mental limitations later. There was always the sub-ground fear that someday...he would ‘snap’, as others might put it; and that when he did everything about him would be out of any scope of control. This had taught him to fear not who he was...but what he could become. And so he buried himself in dogma because structure-so he told himself-was safe; not just for himself...but for others.

Sociability demanded change.

It demanded it on a level that made him feel, to some degree, weak. Because now he had to worry about the capacity to disappoint. And there were times he certainly had; when Genesis threw a dinner party and he spent most of the time in the bedroom...his partner was very disappointed. When Angeal asked him to stay awhile-early on, when they weren’t acquainted enough to know one anothers’ quirks-and roust with the men after drills and Sephiroth didn’t...there was disappointment. His isolation...his fixation on scheduling and his rigid control were all things that-when put to the task to too great a degree-had the propensity to disappoint; and so he learned to adjust them. He wasn’t always successful; there were times when he genuinely didn’t know what emotional issues were at stake until he’d blown far past the finish line when the time came to be reciprocative. He and Genesis fought, and sometimes he did not know what they were fighting about until he’d been kicked out onto the landing with his comb and toothbrush dangling from his fingers.

_’I know you need to pace yourself, Seph...but sometimes I need you to meet me halfway.’_

Doing that was harder than it sounded...because he did want to...he just didn’t know _how_ to half the time. He didn’t know how to see beyond a broad spectrum of understanding to the individualized core that became persona and that was more complicated than he wanted to admit. But Genesis was patient; Angeal was patient...and sometimes he did not think he deserved that patience…but it was still present. Even without the aspect of affection, there was still a solid foundation of trust that he did not have with anyone else. And things weren’t always simple with Shinra...especially now. There were whispers of concern regarding the attitude of the populace towards an industrialized hierarchy...of corruption. Politics were not simple...society was not simple. The General’s second-in-command sometimes spoke of the company with an air of discontent and it disturbed him because he knew that such talk would bode ill for them...boded ill for many things.

But today was Valentine’s day.

It was...and Lazard had tasked them with a last-ditch effort to make HQ slightly presentable for the ‘charity’ dinner that would occur come nightfall. Sephiroth would never pretend to understand why the President thought that Valentine’s Day was an appropriate time of year to open HQ for tours, let alone tours involving herds of small people who were so loud that they made his mako-enhanced ears feel as if they were dying. In addition to tours, Headquarters ran several charity events. This he could get behind as well as he was able, but he was not so cheerful in regards to getting behind charity events that involved very ill children meeting their heroes in a room full of heart-shaped balloons and confetti. It was hard enough helping children on the battlefield. Having to face a dozen or so that were terminally ill and looking at him with tired...exhausted, but awed expressions made him feel so fraudulent it was everything he could do to work through it. In years prior, he had refused to attend in such spaces, and Shinra didn’t push him for it. Most of the attendees were too happy to meet him than to focus on the fact that he wasn’t bedazzled. Being the General had its perks, because it meant you could show up in your work attire and no one would complain.

Genesis did not attend these events.

At first, Sephiroth had had a very large and very resentful problem with this. Because if _he_ had to go and talk to their ‘guests’, then it was only fair his fellow Commanders did as well. Angeal always made a point of showing up, but tended to get so emotional halfway through that he couldn’t manage himself with any form of decorum. And he _should_ be emotional, Sephiroth reflected darkly. Three quarters of the money that came from such aforementioned ‘charities’ went straight into Shinra’s pockets. It was embezzlement to a degree that left him wanting to kill absolutely everyone-except for the children, of course-by the time the evening was over. There was corruption, and then there was stealing from those who didn’t have the power or the withwhereal to defend themselves.

It was during nights like these that Sephiroth seriously considered resigning.

Every time he got down on one knee and looked into the face of a child dragging an oxygen tank behind him, every time he let a little girl with a scarf around her head and sickly skin touch his hair something inside of him shuddered in revulsion ...at himself. Because no matter how much he wanted to tell himself otherwise, Shinra’s actions were unfair...they were cruel, callous...and unrepentant. He supposed that as the child who had spent most of his younger years locked in the Science Division, it should surprise him. But the deep and ugly ache that spread like poison in his veins on the fourteenth of February was no less virulent than when it was _he_ who had been the victim of such atrocities. Horror...fear...the shivering delight of everything that the holiday embodied...he had _lived_ it. Over and over and over again.

“...You brain so loud Seph, it’s a miracle HQ doesn’t fall all to shit whenever you think.”

Genesis might have been one of the only reasons Sephiroth hadn’t deserted already.

It was a frivolous statement, of course. Even as his redheaded lover leaned on the double doors framing the balcony and gave him a fond but slightly weary look; the younger man acknowledged that any bid for freedom he attempted would be quickly thwarted….violently thwarted. And he could fight back, but a part of him was reluctant to hurt his men...and Shinra would use his men to gain his submission. Still...he had hope...he had happiness. His redheaded companion sighed exasperatedly and shoved off the doors to pace over to his side. A slim-fingered, adroit hand slid over his palm...tickled his lifeline before grasping gently at his wrist. A scarlet brow winged upwards as his pulse registered.

“Well call me stupid, but I could swear you’ve run a marathon just sitting here, sweetheart.”

Against his will, Sephiroth huffed out an exasperated laugh before pulling his wrist away and rubbing it self-consciously.

“You know I hate doing events like this” he replied. When Genesis didn’t reply, he ducked his head. “It’s...wrong.”

“It’s duty” was the flatline response...but there was an air of bitterness to it that he knew both of them recognized. “We both know how you are about duty; and you know why I don’t go.”

It was more complicated than that; and both of them knew it.

Sephiroth was expected...Genesis was not; because he had made his stance on such gatherings clear by the time he was high-ranking enough to be considered for attendance. His redheaded companion wasn’t pushed as much as he was because he had always stood firm in his opinions...and he didn’t have Hojo threatening him with a syringe and a mad grin on the sidelines. That was a point of contention between them as well...but it was also a facet of their existence in HQ, as individuals and as a couple. Sephiroth couldn’t shrug responsibility off his shoulders any more than Genesis could bow to it; and not because the older man was weak or shortsighted, but because he hadn’t curtailed to SOLDIER in the way that the green-eyed FIRST had…and because he was very vocal in his standpoints.

“You know I’d rather be with you” Sephiroth said flatly, meeting Genesis’ gaze.

Those sapphire eyes softened even as the redhead grew slightly tense and worried his lip.

“Yeah” was the slightly terse reply. “I know.” The Commander sighed heavily before reaching in his pocket and coming up with a single square packet of what Sephiroth could only assume was chocolate. This was tossed on the metal table before him and he looked at it blankly before raising a questioning gaze to his companion. Genesis smirked. “Sorry, s’not fancy.” Crimson brows wiggled slightly. “My receptionist gave it to me, actually, so I guess it’s cheating.”

“I am doubly moved” Sephiroth deadpanned.

“Oh, I’m shit at this” Genesis grumbled before shoving the younger man’s arm aside and grabbing his lapels as he climbed awkwardly into his lap. It was an unwieldy position, and it took them several moments of cantankerous shifting before the redhead was settled facing the General with his arms over his shoulders and one leg awkwardly supporting him on the ground. “You know I love you without the stupid chocolate” the Commander muttered into his cheek before placing a weirdly-angled kiss on Sephiroth’s lips. “I know you’re just...doing your best at your own clip” he muttered before his voice took on a more suggestive tone. “And we always have when you get back tonight.”

Lifting the hand that was currently not supporting a full grown SOLDIER sitting in his lap, Sephiroth ran a hand through scarlet locks before making an idle noise of assent.

“You know you don’t have to prove anything to me, like you do to them...don’t you?”

Genesis’ voice was subtly concerned...those sapphire eyes piercing him in ways that made him feel overtly seen. Opening his mouth and closing it again, the General looked away momentarily before returning the awkward kiss that had been bestowed upon him. Without pulling away, he murmured his response into the warm cavern of a mouth.

“Part of me knows it” he whispered. “But part of me doesn’t know how to know it.”

Slightly frenetic fingers stroked along his jawline before grasping his chin...and when Genesis pulled away slightly, his expression was both sad, affectionate, and knowing.

“Happy Valentine’s Day Seph.”

“...Happy Valentine’s Day, Genesis.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N:** I've been playing around with this one; it wasn't my initial intention to make this a V-day piece, but it didn't feel right on any other holiday. This could be considered a continuation of the Seph Can't Holiday series, but it can be read alone and separate from all other pieces. Despite my current status, the extremely romantic, lighthearted angle is beyond my reach at the moment; so allow me to depress you thoroughly before I go bowling lol.


End file.
